What’s the World’s Most Expensive City?

If you’re looking for an inexpensive city to relocate to, Tokyo is NOT it. According to a new survey by the consulting firm Mercer, the Asian city ranks number one as the most expensive city in the world.

Mercer ranked 214 cities across five continents for its annual worldwide cost of living survey and found that Tokyo, which is home to more than 13 million people, is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates.

This isn’t the first time that Tokyo has ranked so high, mind you. This is the 12th time that Mercer has placed Tokyo in the top spot since 1994, and it remained at number one for four straight years through 1997. And even when Tokyo hasn’t been at the top of the list, it’s consistently ranked in the top three every year except 2007, when it dropped to fourth place.

New York City, which checked in at number 33, was the only US city to place in the top 50. Los Angeles was second in the US, but 68th overall, while San Francisco took 90th. Portland, Oregon, at 178, and Winston-Salem, at 195, ranked as the least expensive US cities.

Karachi, Pakistan, has the dubious distinction of being the least expensive city out of all 214 countries surveyed.